Juryman

Ian Simmonds channels his trip-hop explorations through the Juryman alias, placing material on Ntone—the experimental Ninja Tune subsidiary—alongside SSR and ATL, the imprint he runs independently. Earlier he belonged to the Sandals, a pop house ensemble whose early-'90s single "Feet" became a major success; after label disputes dissolved the group, Simmonds struck out alone. ATL, whose full name All That's Left functions as a pointed reminder of that setback, became his first outlet. Although his solo 12-inches surfaced amid the post-Mo'Wax rush of downtempo acts, the music stands apart through deliberate structural depth rather than the generic breakbeat textures favored by the cannabis-oriented chill-out scene. The first two of those singles, "Juryman 1" and "Juryman 2," appeared on ATL before "Juryman 3" moved to Ntone; the fourth, issued in 1997 on Crammed's SSR label, introduced more emphatic drum'n'bass rhythms. Later the same year came the album Mail Order Justice, recorded with Luke Gordon (Spacer), the staff engineer at Howie B.'s Pussyfoot studio. Simmonds next released the full-length Last States of Nature under his own name on Studio !K7.